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A Positive Step Toward Preventing Unplanned Pregnancy

The recent US recession did more than make us simply tighten our belts. It’s made many families think long and hard about contraception and when to have children. Research has shown that more women are delaying pregnancy since the start of the recession.

Tough economic times have also led to an increased need for publicly funded family planning services, especially among poor women, who are more likely to have an unintended pregnancy than women of higher socioeconomic status. Today, the Guttmacher Institute released some encouraging statistics—researchers found that publicly funded family planning efforts led to 2.2 million fewer unplanned pregnancies in the US in 2010. Guttmacher estimated that if not prevented these pregnancies would have resulted in more than 1 million unplanned births and more than 760,000 abortions. Additionally, the study showed that every dollar spent on contraceptive services yields $5.68 in public health care cost savings.

These new data underscore what women’s health professionals have known all along: that publicly funded family planning services provide an invaluable safety net for reproductive-age women. It’s great news to see these programs make a real difference in preventing unplanned pregnancy and its consequences.

ACOG has long supported the expansion of the Title X Family Planning program—the nation’s only family planning program dedicated to serving low-income and uninsured individuals regardless of their ability to pay. We will continue to advocate on behalf of the nearly 9 million women who use publicly funded services to ensure that all women—no matter their income—have access to the reproductive health services they need.

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About Jeanne A. Conry, MD, PhD

Dr. Conry is assistant physician in chief at The Permanente Medical Group in Roseville, CA, and associate clinical professor of ob-gyn at the University of California, Davis. She has been a practicing ob-gyn with The Permanente Medical Group for more than 20 years. Dr. Conry was ACOG President May 2013–May 2014.